Those Left Behind
by CaptainTish
Summary: A series of vignettes focusing on the people left behind in our Lost characters' lives. NEW: Chapter 13 and 14 look into the void left behind by Juliet's and Desmond's disappearances.
1. Jack

**Summary: **Jack's mother grieves for her son and husband.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lost. I am making no profit from this.

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****Jack**

Margo Shepard paced up and down in the living room, wringing her hands. Onthe big-screen television set, an announcer was solemnly repeating the information thatthey had been talking about for the last couple of hours.

_"For those of you just turning in, this is breaking news, Oceanic Flight 815 has __now been officially reported as missing. Radio contact was lost at approximately 9:00 __p.m. Australian Time. The aircraft's last known whereabouts were somewhere in the vicinity __of Fiji. Rescue teams are searching in a 200-mile radius..."_

Margo tuned him out. This couldn't be happening. _Jack. Not Jack_. She couldn'tlose Jack. She couldn't lose him, too. She thought back to the last conversation she'd hadwith him.

XXXXX

The phone had rung in the middle of the night. Margo hadn't been asleep. She hadbeen sitting in Christian's study, nursing a glass of brandy. Worrying. Waiting for word.When the phone rang, she jumped and then snatched up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"_Mom_?"

"Jack! Did you...did you find him?"

"_Mom... I'm sorry. He's dead_." She could hear his voice break on the other end of the line.This was what she had feared. Her husband had had an alcohol problem for sometime now, which was what had caused him to lose his license. In the state of depressionhe'd been in before he'd taken off for Sydney, she had been worried that he might justdrink himself into a coma.

"How?"

"_A massive coronary, brought on by blood alcohol poisoning_," Jack was speakingclinically now, in his "doctor voice." "_He didn't have any I.D. on him, so they couldn't __contact us_."

A part of Margo raged at her son. This was all Jack's fault. If he had just kept hismouth shut, if he hadn't caused his father to lose his license, his position as chief of surgery...

"_I've already booked a flight back to the states. Got a pen_?"

"Yes, go ahead." She picked up a pen, and prepared to write down the flight information.

"_I'll be on Oceanic Flight 815. Arriving at LAX tomorrow at 10:42 a.m. I'm __bringing Dad home_."

"I'll make the funeral arrangements. Good-bye." And then she had hung up.

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No _Are you okays?_ No _I love you, sons._ She had just said goodbye and hung up.She had been afraid that in her grief and anger she would say something to her son thatshe would regret later.

And the _irony_...the irony of it all...was that it was _her fault_. She had sent Jackto Sydney. She was the one who had guilt-tripped him into going. If he hadn't gonewhen she told him to, if he hadn't gotten on _that plane_ to bring his father's body home...

Now, the plane was lost, Jack was lost, and she had only unspoken words to regret.


	2. Charlie

**Author's Notes: **Thank you all so much for reviewing. This is my first foray into Lost fanfiction, although I've been a huge fan of the show since day one. Now, I've got a whole series of these little vignettes, but be aware -- they are very short. I hope you enjoy them. If I get reviews I will keep posting.

**Summary**: Charlie's brother Liam thinks back to their last meeting.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Lost. I am making no profit from this.

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**Charlie**

Liam Pace stood in the living room of his comfortable suburban home, and looked at his CD collection in the stereo cabinet. He slowly reached out and pulled a CD off the shelf and looked at it. _Driveshaft_ was scrawled on the cover in jagged letters. After a moment, he popped it into the CD player, and skipped to Track 3.

_You all everybody_

_You all everybody_

_Acting like you stupid people_

_Wearing expensive clothes._

_You all everybody_

_You all everybody_

_You all everybody._

Hearing Charlie sing the backup vocals, Liam broke down and put his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking in silent sobs. Was this the only way he'd ever hear his baby brother's voice again?

If only he'd been able to convince him to stay in Sydney. He'd tried. When he had realized that his brother was still using heroin, he'd tried to get him to stay with him and his wife. They could have helped him. But Charlie hadn't wanted their help.

_"You did this to me. It was about the music. The music, Liam. You took that away __from me."_ Was that true? Was it all his fault that Charlie had ended up a has-been rock star junkie? Liam had been able to straighten out his own life. Why couldn't he lookout for his younger brother, too?

_"You never looked out for me. I have a plane to catch." _And he just left. That was the last Liam saw of him. And now he would never get a chance to make things right.

_You all_

_You all everybody_

_You all everybody_

_You all everybody._

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Author's Note: Okay, if you liked it evenjust a tiny bit, let me know! Thanks for reading! 


	3. Sawyer

**Author's Note:** Yay for Lost winning the Best Drama Emmy! And now, a new season! I don't know about all of you, but I found what was inside the hatch quite fascinating.

For all those of you who reviewed my story, thank you!

**Summary: **Hibbs, Sawyer's con-man colleague and/or rival, muses about the way things work out.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lost. I am making no profit from this.

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**Sawyer**

Things couldn't have worked out better, in my opinion. Duckett's dead, Sawyer did my dirty work, and now no one can trace it back to me.

Sawyer. I never liked him. He never forgave me for what happened on the Tampa job. The thing about Sawyer -- he was on this never-ending quest to find the man who destroyed his family. Stupid, I say. Let the past be the past. But Sawyer wouldn't let go. Heck, Sawyer wasn't even his real name, it was the name of the guy he was searching for.

So, when I wanted to get rid of Duckett -- jerk owed me money -- well I told Sawyer about him, twisted the facts about him. Duckett already had a lot in common with the original Sawyer. It only took a little tweaking on my part...

So, off goes my good friend Sawyer to Australia to exact vengeance on the man he thinks is his life-long nemesis. And when I hear his plane went down afterward...well, no loose ends. That's the way I like it.

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**Author's Note**: If you're reading this (and from those hit counters I know a lot of you are at least glancing at my story), and if you enjoy it, even just a little bit, please leave a review. 


	4. Claire

**Summary: **Thomas, the father of Claire's baby, finds out about the crash, and contemplates his own culpability in the tragedy.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lost. I am making no profit from this.

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**Claire**

Last week, I ran into Claire's best mate Rachel at the mall.

"Hey," I said, rather uneasily.

She just glared at me.

"Look, I know you probably hate my guts. But...I need to know...How is

Claire? Is she doing all right?"

Rachel gave me a look of pained disbelief. "You don't know?"

I had no idea what she was talking about. "Know what?"

Her eyes filled with tears. "Claire's dead."

I felt like I'd been hit with a sledgehammer. "_What_?"

"She was on that plane that went down on the way to the States. She was going to L.A. to give the baby up for adoption," Rachel said this last part bitterly, looking at me like it was all my fault.

Which I guess it sort of was.

"I...I didn't know," I stammered.

"Yeah, well, ignorance is bliss, eh? Drop dead!" And she stormed off.

Claire...and the baby...dead? What was she thinking, going on a plane during her final trimester? Couldn't she have given the baby away here, in Australia? Why Los Angeles?

I can ask these questions all day long, but when it comes right down to it, Claire was on that plane because I ditched her. I abandoned her and the baby, and she was left all on her own. If I'd stuck around, taken responsibility...she'd still be here. And the baby...

No. I can't blame myself. Bad things happen. It's nobody's fault. Things just happen.

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**Author's Note**: Please, review! 


	5. Sun

**Summary: **Sun's friend (the interior decorator) wonders why Sun never made the rendezvous.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lost. I am making no profit from this.

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**Sun**

She never showed up at the rendezvous point. 11:15. I told her. She repeated it. She knew every detail of the plan. I made sure of that.

Sun has always been almost like a daughter to me. When she and Jin got married, I was so happy. But before long, it was obvious something had changed. Jin working for Mr. Paik -- that was not good. So, when she told me she wanted to leave him, I was sad.

If things had been different, they could have had a happy life together. But as it was, she needed me to help her, and so I did.

I don't know what happened. Did she change her mind? Did Jin find out what she was planning?

There's no way of knowing now. And it really doesn't matter, because for whatever reason, she stayed with Jin, and got on the plane that was bound for Los Angeles. The plane that never made it to Los Angeles.


	6. Boone and Shannon

**Summary: **Boone's mother blames Shannon for her son's death.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lost. I am making no profit from this.

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**Boone and Shannon**

"I can't tell you how sorry I am," said the reverend, offering his hand.

Sabrina Carlisle grasped his hand and squeezed it, nodding solemnly. "Thank you, that's very kind."

She watched the mourners trickle out, and sighed, emotionally exhausted. Last week, she had been to the memorials that had been held for all the victims of the Flight 815. They had searched long and hard, but eventually, they had had to give up, and declare the flight officially lost, with no survivors. With her own extensive resources going into a continued search, Sabrina had held out hope, but after another week of fruitless searching, she too had had to concede defeat. Arrangements had then been made for this memorial service for her son Boone, and stepdaughter Shannon.

Her dear son. He wouldn't have even been on that flight, if not for Shannon. Thatgold-digging tramp. Boone was too nice. He had always been there if he thought she needed him. He had gone all over the world to bail her out anytime she was in trouble. This time, he had gone all the way to Australia to rescue her from some bad relationship or some such nonsense. Yes, Sabrina supposed he was being a good big brother, but he took his role far too seriously. Shannon wasn't even his real sister. The girl needed to learn how to take care of herself. Sabrina, for one, couldn't care less about her. She was just a self-centered little priss, and after that debacle with the young man she'd _married _that time, Sabrina had had enough with Shannon. She cut her out of her inheritance. Shannon's father was dead now, so there were no blood or marriage ties. But Boone had still kept in contact with her. Sabrina had told him, time and again, to just forget about her, but he didn't listen.

He was a good boy, Boone was. Earnest, hard-working, and caring. Strong sense of duty. Too strong. If he hadn't been so dead-set on playing the dutiful big brother, he would still be alive.

She blamed Shannon. It was her fault that Boone was dead.

In a fit of grief and anger, Sabrina Carlisle knocked over the cardboard stand-up photograph of Shannon before stalking out of the mortuary.

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**Author's Note**: For a change of pace, I wanted to write someone who wasn't all angsty and mourning. How was it? Please review. 


	7. Michael and Walt

**Summary: **Brian, Walt's stepfather, thinks about the Flight 815 tragedy.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lost. I am making no profit from this.

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**Michael and Walt**

I hate to say it, but when I heard the plane had gone down, I was relieved. Relieved not to be burdened by a son I didn't want. A son who, frankly, creeped me out a bit.

I know I'm the ultimate slimebag. My wife dies and the first thing I do is ship off her son with the father he hardly knows. Walt's a nice kid. Typical ten-year-old in most ways, I guess. All his life, I've been the only dad he's ever known. I did the best I could. I never really wanted kids. When Susan wanted me to adopt Walt, I did. I wanted tomake her happy. So, I pretended that I really wanted to adopt Walt.

But without Susan... I just couldn't deal with him. So I called his father. Michael seemed like a decent man. Susan always spoke fondly of him. Not that she ever gave me reason to be jealous, really. But she did have only nice things to say about the biological father of her child.

I thought Michael could give Walt the kind of attention the boy needed. It was only logical.

Okay, I admit, it was a rotten thing to do. I'm a total jerk. I pawned the boy off on Michael, and now, they're both dead. I am the king of all jerks.

And, to top it all off, I lost Vincent, too!

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**Author's Note**: Well, I wrote this before this week's episode aired but I don't think anything was contradicted. I based this on the first Michael flashback, from last season. They didn't really give us any new info about the whole Michael/Walt/Susan/Brian thing in the new one. 

In all of these ficlets, I've purposely tried to stick very close to the facts they've given us on the show, so that when season 2 started, nothing would be contradictory. I hope I've achieved that.

_Please _review!


	8. Jin

**Summary: **Jin's father thinks about his son, and hopes that his marriage ended happily, after all.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lost. I am making no profit from this.

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**Jin**

I hadn't seen my boy in years. Then one day, one beautiful day, he showed up. I was so happy! He's my son and I love him.

The poor boy was very troubled. Said he'd done terrible things. Said he and his wife never talked anymore.

Although I had just got my son back, I told him to go, get away. Go to America and stay there. It would be the best way to save his marriage. I think he was seriously considering it.

I'll never know, because the plane went down six hours after leaving Australia. At least they were together to the end. I hope they died happy, together.

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**Author's Note**: Please review! Yes, I mean you! Okay, now seriously: If you read this chapter (and I know a lot of you are) and you liked it just a tiny little bit, will you let me know? Just click on the review button, it'll only take a few seconds. 


	9. Kate

**Summary**: Farmer Ray reflects on his houseguest/employee, "Annie" aka fugitive Kate. 

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lost. I am making no profit from this.

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**Kate**

Annie -- or Kate, I guess -- worked for me for almost three months. In all that time, I never got the impression that she was some kind of hardened criminal. Yeah, she had a past, I could tell that, but hey, everyone's got baggage. I just figured that maybe she was running away from a bad relationship, or something. She was a hard worker, reliable, seemingly trustworthy. She never stole from me. She was nice, thoughtful, good sense of humor. The kind of daughter I would have liked to have had.

When I saw her picture in the post office, I was shocked. It couldn't be Annie. But it _was_ her in the picture. A $23,000 reward. It would take me years to earn that much money. And I had a mortgage.

I wrestled with it for a couple of days. It was hard to reconcile the sweet girl who had been living under my roof with that wanted poster. But in the end, I contacted the authorities like a good citizen. I've always been a law-abiding man, and like I said – $23,000 would go a long way for my mortgage.

Well, I got my money. And Annie -- Kate, that is -- got shipped back off to the states. Only, her plane didn't make it. I watched the news report in shocked horror, when it was made public that Flight 815 had disappeared en route to Los Angeles, no survivors expected. What did I do?

Well, it's been forty-two days, and they've found no trace of the wreckage, no bodies. I don't know what happened. Did the plane go down? They would have found some trace of it. Did she hijack the plane and escape somewhere? Is she capable of that? Is such a thing even possible?

I don't know. I don't know anything. I do know that she could have escaped when she crashed our truck back on that road. She didn't. Instead she gave up her chance at freedom to save my life. So now I'm alive because of her. And she's gone because of me.

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**Author's Note**: Please Review! 


	10. Sayid

**Summary: **Haddad, the leader of the terrorist cell that Sayid infiltrated in Sydney, blames Sayid for the failure of his mission.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lost. I am making no profit from this.

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**Sayid**

I blame Sayid. Everything was going perfectly. Our cover was intact. Then Sayid showed up.

I thought he was on our side. I had chosen the target. I had obtained the explosives. I had assigned Essam to be the one to go on the mission. Sayid volunteered to go with him, and I approved. If he wanted to be a martyr to the cause, good. I would have done it myself, but I am needed for planning these operations.

I thought Sayid was one of us. I thought he was on our side.

I cannot believe how stupid I was. He was working for the CIA all along.

It all went wrong. The two of them never even left the warehouse. Essam shot himself, and Sayid...gone.

Later when I found out he was on the plane that had gone down on the way to Los Angeles, I thought...poetic justice. He was a traitor to our cause. And he deservedhis ignominious end.

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**Author's Note:** I would like to thank all the people who are taking the time to review this fic. I appreciate it a lot. It's nice to know people are enjoying my work. There's still a couple characters left to go! Please review! 


	11. Hurley

**Summary: **Carmen Reyes laments the fate of her son, Hurley.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lost. I am making no profit from this.

**Author's Note**: Just today, I got a review hoping to see Hurley's story next. Well, here it is. Who doesn't love Hurley? Dude!

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**Hurley**

Why did he have to go off to Australia? Australia, of all places. That boy... Sometimes I wonder if his head is attached to his shoulders.

I wish he never won the lottery.

He became convinced that the numbers were _cursed_! Cursed! I never!

"Ma," he says to me, "I'm going to Australia for a few days."

"Australia!" I said. "Hugo, what are you talking about? Why would you go there? What is there for you? Tell me that!"

"Ma, I gotta take care of a few things, that's all."

"What things? My birthday's next week, you know. You wouldn't miss your mother's birthday, would you?"

"I'll be back for your birthday. I just have to go see a guy."

"Hugo, is this about those numbers? There's no curse! You must stop this nonsense. It's crazy."

"I'm not crazy! I just have to go talk to him, all right?"

And so off he went to Australia. He said he'd be back in time for my birthday. Instead his plane went down into the ocean.

Australia. There was no reason for him to go off to Australia. He should have stayed put here, and everything would have been fine. But no, he had to go. Stupid boy.

My stupid, dear boy.

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**Author's Note**: Coming up next -- Locke! And then we will have come to the last of the main characters. Please review! 


	12. Locke

**Summary: **John Locke's "girlfriend" Helen wonders what happened to the strange man who used to call her.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lost. I am making no profit from this.

**Author's Note**: Okay, I based this one on the episode "Walkabout" where he was talking to that girl on the phone. Now, in the recent episode "Orientation", we find out that before that, he used to have an actual girlfriend named Helen. I'm not sure this is the same person, because Phone Helen didn't seem like she really knew him aside from talking on the phone. I don't know, what do you guys think? That's what's great about this show -- so many questions! So intriguing! So read this story on the assumption that it's a different person and enjoy. And please review.

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**Locke**

I haven't heard from him in ages. Last time we talked he was pretty upset. But now I'm worried.

John was an unusual client. He would call and we would just...talk. We would chat about everyday things -- movies, music, weather, traffic. He talked about his job. Pretty boring job, that. A box company? No wonder he was a little...odd. And he went on and on about that walkabout thing -- it was like some kind of safari thing in Australia. That was where the problems started.

He asked me to go with him. I really like John. But it was a weird situation. I enjoyed talking to him, and if he had the money to spend $89.95 an hour to chat with me, fine, but...I don't know, he thought we were _friends_, or something. Or, like, maybe he thought I was his _girlfriend_.

He was a _client_. A nice one, one I really enjoyed talking to, but still, a _customer_. I told him, maybe he should talk to a therapist or something. Anyway, I just got really freaked out and hung up. When I didn't hear from him for a few days, I worried a little, but then I figured that maybe he really did it, went on that Australian walkabout thing.

Now it's been a month, and I haven't heard from him. Maybe it's a good thing, maybe he found himself a real friend, or a real girlfriend, you know, a _life_. That's what I keep telling myself. And I might be able to convince myself if it weren't for one thing.

About three weeks ago, that plane disappeared. The plane coming from Sydney, Australia to L.A. _Australia_. And that would have been about the time John would have been heading home from his walkabout.

But the chances are one in a million, right, that he was actually on that plane? He probably wasn't. Surely not.

But what if he was? Not knowing is killing me. I mean, I didn't even know the guy, but still... I've thought about calling the airlines, and looking into it, but...I don't even know John's last name.

I guess it's just one of those things. Maybe I'll hear from him again. If I don't...well, I hope he wasn't on that plane. It would have been a huge coincidence if he was, right?

Whatever happened, wherever he is, maybe he's better off.

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**Author's Note**: Well, guys, that's it. That's the last main character. Of course, I do like the suggestion that I write more than one POV for each character. But at this point we just don't know enough about the people left behind. For example, why are Jack and Sarah no longer married? Why did Kate's mother freak out when she saw her? So, maybe, after we get more info, I'll write more. But for now, this is finished. Thank you all for reading! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Your reviews made my day! 


	13. Juliet

**Summary: **Juliet's sister, Rachel, contemplates her sister's disappearance.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lost. I am making no profit from this.

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**Juliet**

She said she'd be back in time for the birth. I believed her.

Juliet is my sister and I always believed in her, even when she didn't believe in herself. When she developed the serum, I begged her to use me as a guinea pig. She was reluctant to do try something so experimental on me, when I was still recovering from chemo. But I told her that after all I'd been through, I wanted something good. If it didn't work, then it didn't work. But if it did, if it _did_, I would get the baby I'd always wanted, the baby I'd never be able to have otherwise.

And it _did_ work. I was supposed to be infertile after all the sickness and treatments I'd gone through. But Juliet made the impossible happen for me.

She really is a brilliant doctor. So, I encouraged her to take the job with Mittelos BioScience. Now, I wish I hadn't.

She was only supposed to be gone for six months. I didn't have any contact with her during those months, but I just assumed that wherever she was, she was doing her work, and assuredly making great progress, whatever it was. There was an awful lot of secrecy, but I really didn't think there was anything ominous going on.

I first started getting an inkling of trouble, when March came around and I called the number Dr. Alpert had left me. I wanted to know the details of when Juliet would be returning to Miami. Date, time, flight number, all that kind of stuff. I had called him once before just to check on how Juliet was doing. I hadn't been able to get through to him, but a few days later he called me back and said that Juliet was fine, but I shouldn't try to contact him again, as the research they were doing was very sensitive and demanding. So I just waited until March, when she would be coming home.

This time, instead of getting the receptionist at Mittelos, I got a recorded message saying "For the last 23 years, Mittelos BioScience has been happy to serve the world's pharmaceutical needs. Thank you for your interest." That was it! Nothing else. No contact information. Nothing.

I did everything I could. I went to the police. I hired a private investigator. I scoured the internet.

On June 15, 2002, my baby boy was born. I named him Julien.

Months passed. Eventually I had to give up the search for Juliet. I'm not rich. I have a son to support. I just have to believe that she's still alive and that wherever she is, she's okay.

I believe miracles can happen. I believe Julien is a miracle. And I just have to keep believing that someday he'll get to meet the aunt that made his life possible.

**Author's Note**: I'm just starting to come out of a horrible writer's block, so if you read this, and enjoyed it at all, please let me know.


	14. Desmond

**Summary**: Penny tells us about her search for Desmond.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Lost. I am making no profit from this.

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**Desmond**

I got a phone call last night. It was the phone call I'd been waiting for for three years. Three long years of waiting and hoping. Hoping for the impossible. Hoping to find some proof that the man I love is still alive.

At first, I hated him for going off on that stupid race. He was acting like a bloody fool, thinking he had to prove himself deserving of my love or something like that. Didn't he realize, I loved him from the moment I met him?

When I first got word of his disappearance, I went a little mad. I stormed into Father's office, and demanded to know what happened. The Widmore Corporation was sponsoring this race, weren't they keeping track of all the people involved?

He wasn't very reassuring. Father's never approved of Des. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure he's tried to bribe Des to stay away from me. Not that Desmond would take the money. So, anyway, Father just said that it was terribly tragic, and he was going to give a press conference and give his apologies to Desmond's family, and all that.

Well, I wouldn't give up that easily. Growing up in the powerful Widmore family, I've always known that with enough money and determination you can find anyone. So, I started my own investigations. And I found out things.

I can't go into detail about the things I discovered. It's too dangerous -- the organizations and people involved are all very powerful. But -- I have resources of my own. And so I made arrangements and then all I had to do was wait.

And now my waiting has paid off.

I'm coming, Des.

**Author's Note:** I had to be deliberately vague in this. I didn't want to go into too much detail lest this be rendered AU by next week, for all I know. I've had terrible writer's block lately, so please, if you enjoyed this at all, let me know.


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